tight hips and sciatic/piriformis issues

[bikraminseoul]

#1257

I have been involved in yoga in varying degrees for the last 8 years, and have always been involved in sports and exercise. I am currently teaching in Korea, and have been going to hot yoga 3-6 times a week for 3 months. I am really noticing the imbalances in my body, and past injuries are beginning to give me problems. I strained my right IT band 4 years ago as a result of overuse in training for a half marathon. I have never fully recovered from that, and my hips seem to have tightened more and more over the last couple of years. I am generally fairly flexible, but I have a hard time with any hip opening poses. Tadasana is impossible for me – I cannot get my leg into position, and my ankle hurts when I am holding it because of the angle of my knee. I cannot fully straighten my balancing leg and bend to hold my foot in dandayamana janushirasana. I also have found that the balancing poses are particularly difficult when balancing on my left leg – I suppose because of some kind of overcompensation for my previous injury, and because of my structural imbalances. In reading posts on this forum, I am reminded that I have been told that I have a very mild case of scoliosis, and am only now tying my symptoms to the scoliosis. One of my legs is slightly longer than the other, too. :-S I also have had an issue with my tailbone – I broke it 8 years ago. I have found that when I drop lower into trikanasa, it seems to pull at it – and it will be sore for a few days – often at the same time that I have sciatic problems – right now, for example. I believe that all of these are tied together.

For the last month or so my hips have been very stiff and sore all of the time, and they do not seem to be loosening up much. My feet hurt, mostty on the inside of my arch and my big toe. I have had sciatic/piriformis issues over the last several years, and I am finding that the hot yoga is both healing and exacerbating these problems. I currently have a mild case of sciatica (self-diagnosed). I firmly believe that the hot yoga is helping my body to re-align, but I am feeling frustrated. I am 30 years old, female, in decent shape, but not the best shape I have been in. I am really working on having good form in the poses, and finding that they are getting harder and harder right now – I suppose because I am doing them more correctly. I have been trying to work on hip opening poses after class, but they are so difficult!

As I am living in Korea, and do not speak very much of the language, I cannot really express these things to my instructors. I guess I am looking for some advise, and also some affirmation that the hot yoga is working on healing these issues my body has.
🙂
Our classes are 60 minutes – only repeating pranayama and arda chandrasana.

Thank you! I love reading this forum – it is so informative and very helpful!

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#3867

Hello bikraminseoul

Letting you know that I am on the case but had a few things come up for me. I want to ask some questions and hope to do that in the next day or so. There are A LOT of issues tied up in your post and I want to take the opportunity to stew on it, come up with some questions for you to clarify the situation and also some ideas to work on…

I would like to know if you are doing any other exercise besides the 60 min Bikram classes. Do you sit at a desk for your job or do you move around a lot? You mention your injury (IT) is on the right side. Do you know how much longer your leg is than the other? Which leg is longer?

Both feet are hurting, right? What about your sciatic/piriformis conditions are they on one or both sides? When you say that hot yoga exacerbates and heals, do you mean that while you are doing it feels good but out of class it doesn’t feel good, or something else?

I appreciate that you are doing your best in the poses! Do you feel as if you are struggling at the moment in your effort to get where you want to get? Is the class giving you the joy of working your body? Or is it becoming hard work?

Whatever you can give me is good! Get specific. Poses that are simple, impossible, getting harder, or easier with time. Post here or send me an email. Doesn’t matter!!!

PS seems I got carried away and wrote some questions now after all :cheese:

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[bikraminseoul]

#3870

Thank you for your reply – I am going to answer each question in order. I know I pretty much put everything on the table, but I didn’t want to be vague…lol! Thank you for the feedback you are giving me. I am realizing through this recent experience with hot yoga that I will need to probably do some additional therapy such as acupuncture, massage, etc. but I don’t have a lot of those options available to me at the moment.

I would like to know if you are doing any other exercise besides the 60 min Bikram classes.
I typically (over the last few years) walk or jog 2-5 miles a few times a week, but with the stiffness, and a very busy schedule, I have not done much of that in the last 2 months. I do, however, walk about 2 miles everyday to and from work.

Do you sit at a desk for your job or do you move around a lot?
I do a mixture of sitting and walking throughout the day.

You mention your injury (IT) is on the right side. Do you know how much longer your leg is than the other?
It is just by maybe a centimeter – nothing noticible, and has only been diagnosed by chiropractors. It was usually corrected by them with an adjustment – so possibly it is more of a pelvis issue than actual leg length. The slight scoliosis may play a part too…

Which leg is longer?
I am not sure…I have not really thought about it for awhile, but I think it is my right leg…

Both feet are hurting, right?
Yes- although my left foot, like my left leg, seems to have a harder time with the balancing and therefore is more sore. In the summer I pretty much only wear flip-flops – a practice I will be changing.

What about your sciatic/piriformis conditions are they on one or both sides?
Typically on the right, but has been on the left once or twice. It only occurs on one side at a time. I have been told that my piriformis muscle on my right side is really tight.

When you say that hot yoga exacerbates and heals, do you mean that while you are doing it feels good but out of class it doesn’t feel good, or something else?
Yes – it feels good in class, but I feel like I have had more issues with the sciatic nerve and stiffness out of class. I can REALLY feel the pull of my sciatic nerve on both sides of my body when in the some of the poses (especially in standing separate leg head to knee pose), but it is a good stretch. Also, I am noticing my balance issues so acutely that it feels like they are new issues, although I know they are not.

I appreciate that you are doing your best in the poses! Do you feel as if you are struggling at the moment in your effort to get where you want to get?
I feel that I am struggling at the moment with myself – getting past these issues of balancing my body. I really have to focus on my left side, and even though I can hold the positions, I do really struggle to deepen them.

Is the class giving you the joy of working your body? Or is it becoming hard work?
It is definitely giving me great joy both in working my body and helping to uncover some of these issues I have listed. It is not becoming hard work, I always look forward to class. I just want to learn how to get past this place and really be able to deepen my practice. I also want to do what I can to help my body recover from years of bad habits! 🙂 This is a journey for me, and I want to help my body be the healthiest that it can be!

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#3903

Hello bikraminseoul

I agree with you! Get rid of the flip flops. Some clarification for me please: Do you think that your footwear could have anything to do with your painful arches? Get some footwear that helps you learn how to work using your muscles correctly. Did you happen to check out my video on feet: Great Posture from the Ground Up? That has some hints about walking which will help. I certainly have seen too many screwed up feet to condone wearing flip flops.**

No affiliation here but you may want to check out MBTs (Masai Barefoot Technology sandals). I wore mine into the ground over 2 years and they were great for using leg muscles (and balancing them). Worth a look although they are not pretty, but if you are walking 2 miles to and from work everyday the investment is worth it.

The IT band problem can be associated with tightness. It seems to me that you could benefit from some well structured stretching in that area. Have you downloaded Lucas’ At Home Stretching Guide. This could be a good start for you. Go to this page where you can find many of our free downloads. You could also learn some yin yoga stretches (google it) and maybe buy the little book. A great time to stretch is also after you hot yoga session when your muscles are very warm already. Your tight piriformis and hips, your ITB condition and your sciatica will all appreciate some more stretching. And especially long duration stretches.

Hot yoga is generally going to be really great for you so long as you have great alignment.

One thing that jumped out at me was the possibility that you could be ‘weight shifting’. Often students shift their weight (lean into their standing leg or hip) before they pick up the other leg in poses like Standing Head to Knee, Balancing Stick, Eagle, Tree etc. This will definitely have you moving your weight to the outside of your leg which is worsening your condition.

Find stability then pick up the leg, don’t shift the weight. And remember the message from the foot video (mentioned above) about lifting up through the ankles to distribute your weight more correctly.

Here are some tips for you that may help you.

Make sure you properly lock your knee by using your quadriceps muscles. For this to be optimal check your alignment from the ground up. Start with feet aligned (not necessarily toes and heels together but knees squarely facing forward, so adjust feet apart if necessary).

For Standing Head to Knee: for the next while don’t round over to pick up the other foot. Work on locking the standing leg. Stand up straight. Interlock your fingers just below your knee, and with straight arms, allow the full weight of your leg to pull against your arms as you stand up nice and straight with your shoulders down and back and chest lifted. This will help you focus on strengthening the standing leg and finding balance (something you have said you have had trouble with recently) and also get you some stretch in your leg and hips. Another thing it will do is allow you to more easily keep the hips square. Balance is really quite easy in this pose so you should really enjoy this rehabilitative position.

Please clarify for me: You talk about dropping lower into triangle and I am not sure what that means. Do you get pain when your thigh is parallel to the ground, but not if it is higher? Also what is the angle that your lower leg makes with your thigh?

And for Standing Sep Leg Stretching: do you point your toes in or keep them parallel? To keep your situation neutral (and not exacerbate either your sciatica or your ITB problem) I recommend keep your feet parallel. Can you tell me whether your legs are straight or bent in this pose and how far apart your feet are?

You may need a short term alternative for Tadasana because of the pain. However I guess I need to make sure that it is the bikram style tree that you are doing with the ankle up near the hip. Would it help you at all to keep one hand around the ankle and the other at the foot, without letting go of either hand. If supporting your ankle doesn’t help you then the other alternative is to bring the sole of the foot to the inner thigh (or below the knee). Remember to hold your body squarely in alignment when lifting the leg off the floor.

Over to you now; a few tips and a few (more) questions interspersed.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

**If you are an avid wearer of flip flops then please don’t get all defensive 😉 Just be mindful if you have any structural issues or even simply PAIN or discomfort in the legs, hips or spine or your feet are deformed or deforming over time then consider wearing shoes that are better for you.

[JennyO]

#3925

Yes! I hear all the time to “shift your weight into your ____ leg”. When this is cued, I see people shift and then drop their opposite hip, which brings them into the pose with wrong alignment. Then a cue to fix the alignment, some people lose their balance…
How do you cue coming into the balancing poses Gabrielle?

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#3928

Hello Jennifer!

Great noticing. What a terrible waste of time and energy to shift your body into a wrong position and then spend all that time fixing it. It is just not worth it.

Giving the right cues to go into and out of poses is literally working the best possible alignment you can as early as you can. To be honest once these poses are taught without the extraneous and erroneous commands, students tend to automatically and unconsciously learn how to avoid the mistakes. It really is about CONSCIOUS and mindful word choice from the teacher. I avoid ambiguity as much as I can. Sometimes it is as simple as NOT saying the wrong thing. You won’t ever hear me say “shift your weight”. Because of that, students are less likely to do it (surprise, surprise). But if they are coming from classes that use this command then it is an education process. It may be demonstrated. I certainly talk about aligning hips before entry into poses. And I definitely encourage students experiencing certain sensations in their bodies so that they can recognize good solid alignment (before entry and as a result in the rest of the pose)

The poses the shifting weight ‘script’ mostly pertains to (although is not limited to) are typically Eagle and Standing Head to Knee. In Eagle, sit low, weight both feet evenly, then pick up the leg. In Standing Head to Knee I recommend lifting the leg into position before rounding down. Anyway there are instructions for each balancing pose and indeed all warrior poses too – any pose where the legs are apart – not just the one legged poses!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

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